JPH10215318A - Electronic mail system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electronic mail system in which item numbers of newly arrived electronic mails and of unopened electronic mails are informed to an electronic mail recipient by using a pager. SOLUTION: When an incoming call reaches an electronic mail server 20, the electronic mail sever 20 outputs item number information of unopened electronic mails to a mail information transmission means 3 which receives the item number information to discriminate the presence absence of newly arrived electronic mails and outputs the presence/absence of newly arrived electronic mails and the item number information to call a pager 5 carried by an electronic mail recipient 21. Of the other hand, the page 5 receives the information transmitted from the mail information transmission means 3 by using a mail information reception means 50, discriminates the presence/absence of the newly arrived electronic mails by using a newly arrived electronic mail discrimination means 51, informs it to the electronic mail recipient by sound or vibration when newly arrived electronic mails exist and displays the item numbers of unopened electronic mails to a display part 54 of the pager 5 as character information when no newly arrived electronic mail exists.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an e-mail system for exchanging e-mail between a plurality of computers interconnected with an e-mail server via a telephone line, and more particularly to an e-mail system utilizing a pager or the like. The present invention relates to an electronic mail system capable of notifying a mail receiver of the number of new incoming and unopened mails or the number of unerased mails.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 8, in an electronic mail system 1, an electronic mail server 10 has a mailbox 12 for each individual electronic mail recipient 11. The e-mail sent from the e-mail sender 13 to each e-mail recipient 11 via the communication line 14 is stored in the mailbox 12. The e-mail receiver 11 receives and reads the contents of the e-mail stored in the mailbox 12 by accessing the e-mail server 10 via the communication line 14 and requesting opening of the e-mail at any time. Can be. After reading, the e-mail recipient 11 requests the e-mail server 10 to delete the unnecessary e-mail,
The selected e-mail is deleted from the mailbox 12. As described above, the e-mail system does not require the e-mail sender 13 and the e-mail receiver 11 to be simultaneously connected via the communication line 14 when transmitting the e-mail. There is an advantage that an e-mail can be sent regardless of the location, convenience, etc. Also, the side receiving the e-mail is convenient because it is sufficient to access the e-mail server 10 and receive the e-mail at a convenient time.

One of the systems for communicating with a person at a remote place via a communication line is a system for calling a pager using radio waves. In this system, a pager makes a ringing tone or vibrates by calling a pager of the other party by telephone, thereby notifying a person who carries the pager that the pager is being called. Recently, the pager calling the pager sends a message to the pager's carrier by operating a button on the telephone, and the message is displayed on the display unit provided in the pager by numbers and letters, and the message is sent to the pager's carrier. Some pagers have been made available. One of the services using a pager is a pager call service for general subscriber telephones, which calls a pager registered in advance when an incoming call arrives at a home telephone, for example.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional e-mail system, the e-mail recipient 11
Can not know that there is a new incoming call until the user accesses the e-mail server 10 and checks whether there is a new incoming call even if there is a new incoming e-mail addressed to the user. There are drawbacks such as urgent e-mails not being delivered immediately, and e-mail recipients 11 having to frequently access e-mail server 10 to check for new incoming calls.

Accordingly, the present inventor has proposed that when a new incoming e-mail is received, the e-mail server 10 calls the pager of the e-mail receiver 11 and sends the e-mail receiver 11.
By notifying the new e-mail system to the new e-mail system, the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional e-mail system can be solved. If an unopened e-mail is stored in the mailbox 12, the pager of the e-mail receiver 11 is called at predetermined time intervals to call the e-mail receiver 1
It is thought that the e-mail can be reliably opened by calling the attention of (1).

[0006] However, while an unopened e-mail remains, the pager is called at a preset time even if there is no new incoming call. Therefore, when the pager rings or vibrates, is there a new incoming call? There is a problem that it cannot be determined whether or not the notification that the unopened e-mail remains remains. Another problem is that the number of unopened e-mails cannot be known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an electronic mail system in which a pager is used to notify an electronic mail receiver of the number of new incoming and unopened electronic mails. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In an electronic mail system according to the present invention, when an electronic mail server receives a call, the electronic mail server outputs information on the number of unopened electronic mails to a mail information transmitting means, and transmits the mail information. The means receives the information on the number of unopened e-mails, determines whether there is a new incoming e-mail, and outputs information on whether there is a new incoming call and the number of unopened e-mails, or whether there is a new incoming at predetermined time intervals. And output the information of the number of unopened e-mail, call the pager carried by the e-mail recipient,
On the other hand, the pager receives the information transmitted from the mail information transmitting means by the mail information receiving means, determines the presence or absence of a new incoming call by the new incoming call determining means based on the received information, and sounds a sound when there is a new incoming call. In this case, the e-mail recipient is notified of the number of unopened e-mails as character information on the display unit of the pager when there is no new incoming call.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on one illustrated embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic mail system according to the present invention.

In the electronic mail system 2, an electronic mail server 20 and an electronic mail receiver 21 and an electronic mail sender 23 can be connected to each other via a communication line 24. Mail recipient mailbox (hereinafter simply referred to as mailbox)
22 and is connected to the mail information transmitting means 3, while the e-mail receiver 21 carries a small portable terminal capable of receiving the mail information emitted from the mail information transmitting means 3, for example, the pager 5. It is constituted by.

When the e-mail server 20 receives a new e-mail from the e-mail sender 23 or receives an instruction to open the e-mail stored in the mailbox 22 from the e-mail receiver 21, the e-mail server 20 The information transmitting means 3 is notified of the number of unopened electronic mails. The method of connecting to the e-mail server 20 differs between the e-mail receiver 21 and the other communication partners. Based on the difference in the connection method, it is possible to discriminate between the reception of the opening instruction and the new reception of the electronic mail.

The mail information transmitting means 3 is a RAM (random access memory) for storing the number of unopened electronic mails.
Unopened number storage unit 30 and e-mail server 20
An incoming state storage unit 31 comprising a RAM for storing whether or not the incoming call is a new incoming call; a pager calling unit 32 for calling the pager 5 and transmitting the data of the number of unopened e-mails and the incoming state data to the pager 5; The number notification unit 33 that notifies the pager calling unit 32 of the number of unopened e-mails and the incoming state of the e-mail server 20, and a counter that instructs the number notification unit 33 to execute the number-of-unopened e-mails notification process at predetermined time intervals. And a timer 34 comprising: The mail information transmitting means 3 receives the number of unopened e-mails from the e-mail server 20, determines whether there is a new incoming e-mail based on the number, and sends the mail information or one of the mail information to the pager calling unit 32. As a part, it is configured to notify the presence or absence of a new incoming call and the number of unopened electronic mails.

The pager 5 is a mail information transmitting means 3
A mail information receiving means 50 for receiving the mail information sent from the e-mail server; a new incoming call discriminating section 51 for judging whether or not there is a new incoming e-mail to the e-mail server 20 based on the received mail information; (New incoming mail notifying means) 52 for notifying the e-mail recipient 21 that there is a new incoming call, a call confirmation button 53 for stopping the operation of the notifying unit 52, and the number of unopened e-mails is displayed as character information. A display unit (incoming mail notification means) 54 and an unopened number storage unit 55 for storing the number of unopened electronic mails. The unopened number storage unit 55 is configured by, for example, a nonvolatile memory that can be electrically erased collectively. When the new incoming call determination section 51 determines that there is a new incoming electronic mail, the pager 5
The notifying unit 52 emits sound and vibration, and the display unit 5
4, the number of unopened e-mails is displayed, and when it is determined that there is no new incoming call, only the number of unopened e-mails is displayed without performing notification by sound or vibration.

The unopened number storage 55 of the pager 5
In order to distinguish between the unopened case number storage unit 30 of the mail information transmitting unit 3 and the pager side unopened case number storage unit 55 and the server side unopened case number storage unit 30, respectively.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the number notification unit 33. The number-of-items notifying unit 33 is a
A server output data buffer 40 for receiving and temporarily storing the number information of unopened e-mails sent from
The unopened number data buffer 41 for temporarily storing the number information of unopened e-mails read from the server-side unopened number storage unit 30, and the incoming state storage of information on whether or not the incoming of the electronic mail server 20 is a new incoming. An incoming call state data buffer 42 that is read from the unit 31 and temporarily stored therein;
A comparison unit 4 that compares the number of unopened e-mails held in the server output data buffer 40 with the number of unopened e-mails held in the unopened number data buffer 41.
3. A control unit 44 for executing the number notification process, a ROM (read-only memory) 45 storing a program for the number notification process, and a pager calling unit 32 which generates character data and generates character data.
Is provided with a character data generation unit 46 for outputting to a user.

The comparing unit 43 generates a determination signal based on the comparison result of the number of unopened electronic mails based on the control signal input from the control unit 44 and outputs the determination signal to the control unit 44.

The control unit 44 stores a ROM based on a start signal input from the electronic mail server 20 or the timer 34.
From 45, the number-of-items notification processing program is read and executed.

If the activation signal is from the e-mail server 20, the control unit 44 outputs a control signal to the comparison unit 43, and receives the determination signal sent from the comparison unit 43. Then, the control unit 44 generates data of “new incoming call” or “no new incoming call” based on the received determination signal, and outputs the data to the incoming call state storage unit 31. Further, the control unit 44 outputs a control signal to the server output data buffer 40 and sends the number data of unopened e-mails held in the buffer 40 to the server-side unopened number storage unit 30 to update the stored number. Let it. At the same time, the control unit 44 reads the updated incoming state data and unopened electronic mail number data from the incoming state storage unit 31 and the server side unopened number storage unit 30, respectively, and stores the received data. A control signal is output to the state data buffer 42 and the unopened number data buffer 41 to store the respective retained data in the character data generator 46.
To the pager calling unit 32 via

On the other hand, if the activation signal is from the timer 34, the control unit 44 stores the incoming state data and the number of unopened electronic mails from the incoming state storage unit 31 and the server side unopened number storage unit 30, respectively. Read the data of
When the data of the incoming state is “new incoming”, the data of the incoming state and the data of the number of unopened e-mails are sent to the pager calling unit 32 via the character data generating unit 46.

The character data generator 46 receives the data of the incoming state and the data of the number of unopened e-mails sent from the incoming state data buffer 42 and the unopened number data buffer 41, and converts the data into character data. The data is converted and output to the pager calling unit 32.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the new incoming call judging section 51. The new incoming call discriminating unit 51 receives the mail information sent from the mail information transmitting unit 3 and temporarily stores the mail information data buffer 60, the number of unopened electronic mails read from the pager side unopened number storage unit 55. The unopened number data buffer 61 for temporarily storing information and the unopened number for extracting the data of the number of unopened electronic mails and an identifier (data) indicating the presence or absence of a new incoming call from the mail information stored in the mail information data buffer 60. Number / identifier extraction unit 62, unopened number / identifier extraction unit 6
2, the identifier judging unit 63 for judging whether the identifier extracted indicates “new incoming call” or “no new incoming call”, and the number of unopened cases and the number of unopened cases extracted by the identifier extracting unit 62 A comparing unit 64 for comparing the data with the unopened number data stored in the pager side unopened number storage unit 55, and a control unit 6 for executing a new incoming call discriminating process
5 and a program storing a new incoming call discriminating program.
OM66 is provided.

The control unit 65 reads a new incoming call determination processing program from the ROM 66 based on the activation signal input from the mail information receiving means 50 and executes the program.

The control unit 65 includes an unopened number / identifier extraction unit 6
2 and outputs data of the extracted identifier and the number of unopened items from the extraction unit 62 to the identifier determination unit 6 respectively.
3 and the pager side unopened number storage 55. The identifier determining unit 63 receives the transmitted identifier, and determines whether the mail information transmitting unit 3 is informing "new incoming" or "no new incoming".
A determination signal based on the determination result is generated and sent to the control unit 65. On the other hand, the pager-side unopened number storage unit 55 updates the stored number of unopened emails.

The control unit 65 receives the transmitted judgment signal. If the determination signal is “no new incoming call”, the data of the updated number of unopened e-mails is read from the pager-side unopened number storage 55 without activating the notification unit 52, and the unopened A control signal is sent to the number data buffer 61, and the read data is sent to the display unit 54. Thereby, the number of unopened e-mails is displayed on the display unit 54.

When the determination signal received by the control unit 65 is “there is a new incoming call”, the control unit 65 outputs a control signal to the unopened number / identifier extracting unit 62 to check the extracted unopened number. The data is sent from the extraction unit 62 to the comparison unit 64.
At the same time, the control unit 65 outputs a control signal to the unopened number data buffer 61 to transfer the unopened number data stored in the pager from the buffer 61 to the comparison unit 6.
Send to 4. The comparison unit 64 compares the two pieces of data of the number of unopened cases sent, generates a determination signal based on the result, and outputs the determination signal to the control unit 65. Based on the received determination signal, the control unit 65 updates the pager-side unopened number storage unit 55 without activating the notification unit 52 if the two unopened number data match. The data of the number of unopened electronic mails is read and sent to the display unit 54, and the number of unopened electronic mails is displayed on the display unit 54.

On the other hand, if the data of the two unopened cases does not match, the pager side unopened cases storage unit 5
5, the updated data of the number of unopened e-mails is read and sent to the display unit 54, the number of unopened e-mails is displayed on the display unit 54, and a start signal is generated and output to the notification unit 52. As a result, a sound or vibration is emitted from the notification unit 52, and it is notified that the e-mail receiver 21 has received a new incoming call.

Next, the operation of the electronic mail system having the above configuration will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the e-mail server 20 receives an e-mail from the e-mail sender 23 (step S2) while waiting for an incoming call (step S1), as shown in FIG. It is stored in the mail box 22 (step S3). Then, the number of unopened e-mails is incremented by one and updated (step S4), and the updated unopened number is notified to the mail information transmitting means 3 (step S5). On the other hand, if the e-mail recipient sends an instruction to open the e-mail in the mailbox 22 (step S2), the number of unopened e-mails is decremented by one (step S6). Notify the information transmitting means 3. After the notification of the number of calls, the process returns to waiting for an incoming call.

As shown in FIG. 5, the mail information transmitting means 3 waits for an input of a start signal (step S1).
1) When the number of unopened e-mails is sent from the e-mail server 20 (step S12), the number of unopened cases and the unopened number stored in the server-side unopened number storage unit 30 are sent. Compare with the number of cases (step S
13). Then, if the number of unopened messages sent from the e-mail server 20 is larger, it is determined that there is a new incoming call (step S14), and the data of “new incoming call” is stored in the incoming call state storage unit 31 (step S15). . Also,
If the number of unopened messages sent from the electronic mail server 20 is smaller, it is determined that there is no new incoming call (step S1).
6) The data of "no new incoming call" is stored in the incoming call state storage section 31 (step S15). Thereafter, the stored data of the incoming state and the data of the unopened number are transmitted to the pager 5 (step S17), and the process returns to the standby state. On the other hand, when the activation signal is input from the timer 34 in the standby state (step S12), the process proceeds to step S17, and returns to the standby state.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pager 5 waits for the mail information to be sent from the mail information transmitting means 3 (step S31), and when the mail information is sent (step S32). ), Extract the identifier indicating the incoming call state and the data of the number of unopened cases included in the mail information (step S33). When the identifier is "new incoming call" (step S34), the extracted number of unopened cases is compared with the number of unopened cases stored in the pager-side unopened case number storage unit 55 (step S35). As a result of the comparison, if the extracted number of unopened cases is larger, the number is sent to the pager-side unopened case number storage unit 55 and stored (step S36), and the notification unit 5 is activated (step S37). Then, the stored unopened number is displayed as character information on the display unit 54 (step S39). On the other hand, when the extracted identifier is “no new incoming call” (step S34), the number of unopened cases is sent to the pager-side unopened number storage unit 55 and stored (step S38), and the number of unopened cases is displayed on the display unit 54. It is displayed as character information (step S39). If it is determined in step S35 that the two unopened numbers are the same, the process proceeds to step S39 to display the unopened number as character information on the display unit 54. Thereafter, the process returns to the mail information reception standby state.

As shown in FIG. 7, when the start signal is input (step S41) in the standby state (step S41), the notifying section 52 of the pager 5 starts the calling operation to generate a sound or vibration. (Step S43). When the e-mail receiver 21 presses the call confirmation button 53 (step S44), the call operation is terminated (step S45), and the process returns to the standby state.

According to the above embodiment, when there is an incoming call to the e-mail server 20, the e-mail server 20 outputs the information on the number of unopened e-mails to the e-mail information transmitting means 3, and the e-mail information transmitting means 3 Receives information on the number of opened e-mails and determines whether there is a new incoming e-mail, and outputs information on whether there is a new incoming and the number of unopened e-mails, or whether there is a new incoming or unopened e-mail every predetermined time. The e-mail receiver 21 outputs the information on the number of mails and calls the pager 5 carried by the e-mail recipient 21. On the other hand, the pager 5 receives the information transmitted from the e-mail information transmitting means 3 by the e-mail information receiving means 50, and receives the information. The presence / absence of a new incoming call is determined by the new incoming call determining means 51 based on the information, and if there is a new incoming call, an e-mail is received by sound or vibration. In the case where there is no new incoming call, the number of unopened e-mails is displayed as character information on the display unit 54 of the pager 5 so that the e-mail server 20 receives a new incoming e-mail. And the number of unopened emails can be known by checking the display section 54 of the pager 5.

The mail information transmitting means 3 and the pager 5 are not limited to those of the above-described embodiment, but can be variously designed.

The number-of-cases notifying section 33 and the new incoming call discriminating section 51 are not limited to those of the above-described embodiment, but can be variously designed.

Further, instead of displaying the number of unopened electronic mails on the display section 54 of the pager 5, the number of undeleted electronic mails may be displayed.

Further, the determination of the new arrival of the e-mail in the number notification unit 33 is determined to be “new arrival” after the latest e-mail is received, and then the e-mail receiver 21 accesses the e-mail server 20 and unopens it. After confirming the number of e-mails, "no new incoming call" may be set. Then, the presence or absence of a new incoming electronic mail can be determined more precisely.

Also, a serial number is added to the mail information and the mail information is transmitted from the mail information transmitting means 3 to the pager 5, and the pager 5 stores the serial number and determines whether there is a new incoming call based on the serial number. You may. Then, the pager 5 can more precisely report that there is a new incoming electronic mail.

[0038]

According to the e-mail system of the present invention, it is possible to immediately know that an e-mail addressed to the user has arrived at the e-mail server, and to check the display section of the pager for unopened e-mail. You can know the number of emails.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of an electronic mail system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a number notification unit in the electronic mail system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a new incoming call discriminating unit in the electronic mail system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of processing contents of an electronic mail server in the electronic mail system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing contents of a mail information transmitting means in the electronic mail system.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing contents of a new incoming call discriminating unit in the electronic mail system.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of processing contents of a notification unit in the electronic mail system.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional electronic mail system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 e-mail system 3 e-mail information transmitting means 20 e-mail server 21 e-mail receiver 23 e-mail sender 50 e-mail information receiving means 51 new incoming call discriminating means 52 new incoming mail notifying means (notifying unit) 54 incoming mail notifying means (display) Part)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI H04Q 7/12 H04B 7/26 109M 7/38 H04L 11/20 101B H04L 12/54 12/58 H04M 11/00 303

Claims (1)

[Claims] An e-mail server temporarily stores an e-mail transmitted from a mail sender, and the e-mail receiver sends a request to open the received e-mail to the e-mail server so that the e-mail server receives the e-mail. In the e-mail system adapted to receive the e-mail from the e-mail server, the e-mail server side has a mail information transmitting means capable of transmitting mail information on new incoming and outgoing mail of the e-mail to the mail recipient by wireless communication. A mail information receiving means for receiving the mail information sent from the electronic mail server carried by the mail receiver and receiving a new mail based on the received mail information; New incoming call judging means for judging that there is an incoming call; A new incoming mail notifying means capable of notifying a mail recipient that a new mail has arrived when it is determined that there is an incoming call; and a new incoming mail notification means when the new incoming determining means determines that there is no new incoming mail. An e-mail system comprising an incoming e-mail notifying means capable of notifying an e-mail recipient of information.